Sultan of Oman Special Force's (SF) Stable Belt Omani Army

The Sultan's S.F. stable belt. Small sized pink belt with a gold colured chromed buckle. VGC.

The Sultan's Special Force (SSF) — Arabic: قوات السلطان الخاصة, transliterated: Qawat al-Sultaniya al-Khasah is a separate force branch within the Sultan's Armed Forces (SAF) and although equipped to carry out land defense operations, it is not part of the Royal Army of Oman.

During the Dhofar Insurgency of the 1960s and 1970s Sutan Qaboos bin Said al Said became very reliant on British Forces to improve the expertise of his fledgling armed forces battling to defeat Communist insurgents in the south of the country. He became particularly reliant on members of the Special Air Service (SAS) who formed training teams. After the successful conclusion of the Dhofar War Sultan Qaboos decided to develop his own Omani SF capability. He did so relying heavily on retired British personnel (many from the SAS) and during the latter part of the 20th Century the SSF developed.

The SSF was developed from the most able of the Dhofari Firqat forces that were trained by the SAS. The SSF's badge includes a representation of the compact Dhofari leather shield (also used on the SAF's Firqat Forces badge) and wings similar to the SAS parachute qualification badge.

In 1985 the Sultan authorised a medal to recognise the service of SSF personnel; known as the Special Service Medal of the Sultan's Special Force (Midal al-Khidmat al-Khasat Qawat al-Sultaniya al-Khasat).

Brigadier Tony Hunter-Choat OBE (formerly UK SAS) was the last British commander of the SSF9 (retiring in 1997) the post then filled by an Omani officer.

The SSF was created based on the lessons learned in a successful (if not lengthy) prosecution of a counter insurgency campaign in the Dhofar'. However, it was the time, effort and special tactics needed to achieve the victory that convinced the Sultan that he needed his own domestic special purpose force. There has been and remains a clear and constant relationship between the SSF and the Palace Office, a government ministry which oversees all aspects of the Sultanate's security.

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